SciPlore MindMapping

SciPlore MindMapping is a Windows mind mapping tool that helps you visually organize information in a coherent way.

It is based on FreeMind, an open-source application that allows you to design complex mind maps, so it implements several features from this tool, more specifically for helping you create and format mind maps, perform searches within a map, install plugins and more.

SciPlore MindMapping comes with several unique functions that enable you to import PDF bookmarks and automatically add reference keys to nodes in the mind map.

The layout may look a bit overwhelming at a first glance but this only because most of the program’s parameters are embedded in the main window. Checking the help manual and experimenting with the built-in functions may help you make the most out of it.

The tool adopts a multi-tabbed layout so you can easily work on different mind maps at the same time. Plus, you can make use of the drag-and-drop support for moving the map to a different position in the working environment.

You may zoom in or out of the map and show or hide a note window, which is placed at the bottom of the screen and allows you to write personal comments, change the color and font of the text, as well as enable the HTML code view.

SciPlore MindMapping gives you the freedom to structure the information with the aid of a parent node and link other types of details with the aid of child and sibling nodes.

You may import branches and folder structure, print the map, as well as export the selected branch as a new map (MM file format) or save the map to HTML, XHTML, Java Applet, Flash, ODT, PNG or JPG file format. Each mind map can be backed up to a file so you can edit it in your future projects.

The utility is able to extract the reference keys from a database and automatically add them to the corresponding mind map node (it only works with reference database in BibTeX format). You can import bookmarks from a PDF (each bookmark is added as a node and each node is linked to the PDF) and specify a ‘monitoring’ node which lists all PDFs you have in a custom folder in your hard drive (if you add or remove PDFs the changes are automatically applied in your mind map).

The application helps you password-protect your maps so unauthorized users cannot gain access to your private information.

Editing features enable you to personalize the mind map in detail. You are allowed to undo or redo your actions, select the visible branch, cut, copy, paste or delete items from the map, remove nodes, manually add reference keys, and perform searches.

What’s more, you can insert several suggestive icons for signaling the importance of an event in the map or personalizing it (e.g. red, green or yellow traffic light, info, stop, important, question, idea) and embed images (GIF, JPEG, PNG), hyperlinks, and cloud boxes where you can enter custom text.

There’s support for several powerful formatting tools that help you alter a node in various ways. For example, you may change the format of nodes in terms of node and node background colors, style (e.g. fork, bubble, combined), and font (font style, size, bold or italic mode). You can tweak the lines that link the nodes by adjusting their width, selecting the style (e.g. linear, sharp), and changing the color.

If you are not in the mood for manually adjusting the settings of the nodes you can activate the automatic mode and let the application do the configuration for you. Important topics in the map can be highlighted with the aid of blinking nodes (which blink and change their color).

Last but not least, you can use several tools for joining or splitting nodes, keep track of node creation and modification time, assign attributes, and work with a calendar and set up reminders.

SciPlore MindMapping integrates a powerful suite of settings that help you enable the automatic saving mode, choose default options for node styles, colors and fonts, enter the initial map size, assign hotkeys for faster editing and navigation commands, adjust the undo level, use formatting for all nodes, and disable key typing.

SciPlore MindMapping delivers a comprehensive set of features for helping you shape up and customize mind maps. Bad news is that the app hasn’t been updated for a while, so it may cause compatibility issues especially when installing it on newer operating systems.